Champagnie from Staten Island Ruins Knick New Year’s Eve. San Antonio 134 NY 132

January 1, 2026 LouV 2025-26 0
KAT had 20 pts on 5-10 shooting (2-5 from 3). Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

Julian Champagnie, born in Staten Island and raised in Brooklyn, ruined New Year’s Eve for many New Yorkers by going an insane 11-17 from 3 to enable the Spurs to edge the Knicks, 134-132 on a New Year’s Eve Wednesday night in San Antonio.

Even with all those 3’s, NY had a shot to pull the game out until old friend Luke Kornet grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in backwards while drawing a foul with 49 seconds left to give San Antonio a 126-123 lead (after missing the free throw).

After that NY was forced to foul and San Antonio made all their free throws — Harrison Barnes going 2-2 and Keldon Johnson going 4-4 — and the Knicks were unable to overcome the deficit despite Jalen Brunson hitting a 3 with 26 seconds left, Miles McBride hitting 3 free throws after being fouled taking a 3 with 9.7 seconds left, and Brunson hitting a 3 at the buzzer.

The Knicks led by 19 points at one point in the 2nd quarter, led by 73-63 at the half, led 102-93 entering the 4th quarter, and led 110-99 with 8 minutes left —  but Champagnie hit four 3’s in 2 minutes to pull San Antonio into a 116-116 tie with 4:34 left, setting up a roller coaster ending.

NY was without Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart, but used the 3-ball to dominate San Antonio — even with Victor Wembanyama — all night until Champagnie got hot. Wemby was a tough cover — 31 pts on 10-12 shooting (2-2 from 3, 9-10 in free throws) in 24 minutes — leaving the game with 11 minutes left with an apparent leg injury — but returning to the bench for the final minutes. NY shot up 52 (fifty two) 3-pointers — going 22-52 (52%) vs San Antonio’s 14-38 (37%).

But in the end San Antonio had the win.

“They just out worked us,” said coach Mike Brown afterwards. “(San Antonio Coach) Mitch (Johnson) kicked my ass. Their team kicked our ass.”

NY falls to 23-10; San Antonio improves to 24-9 (although those records do not include the Knicks beating the Spurs in the mid-season tournament game).

1. Knicks Launch 3-Ball Attack to Take 45-36 Lead After 1

With Josh Hart out, the Knicks again started 20-year-old, 6’9 athletic big man Mohamed Diawara and he came out on FIRE — hitting two 3’s in the early minutes as NY raced out to a 10-3 lead.

The Knicks continued to attack from 3 — an arial bombardment that netted them a 45-36 lead after 1 quarter, despite Victor Wembanyama showing signs of domination inside — shooting over OG Anunoby for buckets.

2. Knicks Take 19-Pt Lead in 2nd Quarter

The Knicks continued to attack from 3 in the 2nd quarter, which freed up their inside game — and they attacked San Antonio from both inside and outside.

Jordan Clarkson and Mikal Bridges hit 3’s, then OG Anunoby made consecutive dunks inside and NY went up 62-52 with 6 minutes left in the half.

Brunson scored on a drive, and then Jordan Clarkson hit a drive, a 3, and another drive for 7 straight pts and a 19-pt Knick lead at 71-52.

Victor Wembanyama pushed back with buckets and free throws to pull San Antonio within 10 at the half, at 73-63.

3. Spurs Take 93-91 Lead in 3rd — But Knicks Push Back to Lead by 9

De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle joined Wemby in the San Antonio attack, and Julian Champagnie hit three 3’s early in the 3rd as San Antonio tied the score and then took a 93-91 lead on a Keldon Johnson drive with 3 minutes left.

But NY pushed back — Jordan Clarkson with a 3, Brunson with free throws and then consecutive 3’s to put NY up 102-93 entering the 4th.

4. Knicks Lead by 10 with 8 Minutes Left

Tyler Kolek came in at the point to start the 4th, and orchestrated the Knicks with precision — feeding Jordan Clarkson, who continued to get big buckets for NY, KAT, and Mikal Bridges as NY maintained their 10-pt lead.

5. Champagnie Goes Nuts from 3; Kornet the Killer

Wemby went to the bench with 11 minutes left, but De’Aaron Fox picked up the scoring lead for San Antonio — attacking the rim on drives and then Julian Champagnie joined in by going nuts from 3 — Champagnie hit four (4) 3’s in a 2 minute stretch as San Antonio tied the game 116-116.

That made for a rollercoaster last 4 minutes — NY getting big buckets from KAT and Miles McBride — who hit 2 HUGE 3’s — the later making it a 124-123 game, San Antonio with 1:59 left.

But with 49 seconds left, Knick defense forced a Harrison Barnes miss, and Luke Kornet grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back in backwards to kill the Knicks chances — giving San Antonio a 126-123 lead.

“Luke Kornet doesn’t need big time athleticism or a big time skillset to impact winning,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “Rather he does it by playing his role, effort, positioning, pursues every rebound, all 50/50 balls, takes charges, defends, sets screens, finds the open man, finishes around rim and won’t cheat you.”

Clarkson fouled Keldon Johnson with 48 seconds left, and he hit both free throws. Jalen Brunson came back with a 3 with 26 seconds left to give NY a final chance — making it a 128-126 game.

  • NY was forced to foul — and Harrison Barnes made both of his free throws to make it a 4 pt game with 22 seconds left.
  • Jalen Brunson missed a 3 — and Keldon Johnson made 2 free throws to ice it — 132-126 San Antonio with 13 seconds left.
  • Still NY would not quit — McBride getting fouled taking a 3, and hitting all free throws for a 132-129 game — but again Keldon Johnson was fouled and made both free throws to cement the win.
  • A Brunson 3 at the buzzer made the final score 134-132.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401810322

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